


Ty Lee, descendant of Air Nomads

by swooflio



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Fire Nation, Royal Fire Academy, Ty Lee - Freeform, Ty Lee Airbender, air nomads - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-18
Updated: 2020-09-18
Packaged: 2021-03-07 18:33:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 921
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26522215
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/swooflio/pseuds/swooflio
Summary: Inspired by the Ty Lee Air Nomad theory, a look at how some Air Nomads survived and one became the mother of Fire Nation nobility.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 32





	Ty Lee, descendant of Air Nomads

Ritvija took the brilliant vase in her hands and puked inside. Jarring, stinging flavors threatened to spray out of her nose. She hacked, got her composure, and breathed deeply. Calming herself so frequently almost felt natural after all these years. But she would never get used to the side effects of pregnancy.  
A servant girl, a new one, rushed through the gate. She couldn't have been more than 16.  
"Ma'am, please let me take that." She bowed deeply and reached out her hands to take the now stinking ornate vase.  
"Please." Ritvija stood. This was something else she refused to get used to. "I'm fine."  
She hoisted the vase onto her hip like a very smelly baby and went on her way. She would need to look out for this new one. Another child to take care of. As if reading her mind, Lum and Woo peaked around the corner of the hall.  
"Mom, when are Lin, Lat, Lao, and Liu coming home?"  
Her daughters' names slightly disgusted her. Fire nation names, and not even especially creative, at that. Hideki had insisted on matching. And they fit: each of her daughters looked just like her, with their glowing, flowing hair, each of them as nimble and acrobatic and free as she once felt. The only difference, and the only feature that made a difference to Ritvija, were the eyes. Her children’s eyes blazed amber. It told her, every time she looked at them, that they would never fully be hers. A part of them would always belong to the Fire Nation. Only with Woo's name had she been able to flex a bit of that freedom, but she could feel her leeway fading already. Hideki would not let her name this next child.  
"You won’t see you sisters for a long time, my love." The girls followed her as she searched for a room with a tub to plop the vase in. "They're away at a very special school, learning to be ladies, remember?"  
Hideki's status had guaranteed all of her girls a spot in the Royal Fire Academy for Girls. It was suffocating, Ritvija knew that much, and she couldn't stand to imagine her children spending their days learning rules and forms, when her own childhood had been so carefree. But this was part of her plan. If they could secure a spot in high society, hopefully marry well like she had, they could afford to take time for themselves - perhaps even enough for Ritvija to instill teachings of her own, teachings her parents had instilled in her, and their parents in them.  
"Do we get to go, too?" Lum was walking on her hands now, Woo cartwheeling beside her. She knew they could do so much more. She yearned to show them how exceptional their lineage was. But it would never be safe for them here if they knew what they really were.  
Instead of a washing room, Ritvija had arrived at her husband's war room. She looked through the sliding door at the silhouettes of blades hung ornamentally on the wall. No, her children could never know that according to the Fire Nation, their heritage did not exist. Could not exist.  
Changing her mind, she set the vase down in the war room and turned to Lum and Woo, still too young to be sent away to school.  
“Don’t you find your aura to be so grey in here?” She said.  
“Yes.” Lum flipped back onto her feet.  
“That’s why we play outside.” Said Woo.  
“Well then, what are we doing in here?” She scooped them up in her arms, still strong from her training with her parents, and the girls squealed and laughed. They were slippery, and in a matter of seconds, Lum was on the floor, Woo on top of Ritvija’s head.  
Another servant scurried their way.  
“Ma’am.” He bowed. “Your husband has requested your company.”

Hideki always embraced her when she arrived, one of the things she appreciated about him. He was warm, at least.  
“You’re so cold.” He teased, as always. She breathed deeply again. It was one part of her Fire Nation non-bender cover story that was hard to hide. Everyone here seemed to be warm-blooded.  
“I have a surprise for you.” He sat her down on their bed. “I want to name this child after one of your parents.”  
This, she had not been expecting. Ritvija had not spoken to her parents in a long time. Her decision to accept Hideki's proposal broke their hearts. But she had no other options. Their lineage could not remain pure. It was only a matter of time. She thought of her cousins, roaming the world, slowly forgetting that they weren't just nomads. At least Ritvija knew her history, even if she couldn't live their traditions.  
“That’s wonderful.”  
But she knew she couldn’t give her parents’ real names, couldn’t honour their deep meanings, without giving away a deadly amount. This was her fate. This was her people's fate. To die like their kin, but slowly, painfully. Yes, she would try to teach her daughters to be spiritual. She would try to foster their aptitude for acrobatics. Imagining them move like the sky was carrying them, like little birds, brought her the hope she needed to carry on. In some small way, they would carry it on. The legacy of the Air Nomads.  
Ritvija steeled her nerves and gave her father’s fake name.  
“It will be perfect.” Hideki said, embracing her again. “Ty Lee. Fire Nation noble.”


End file.
